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| Synopsis:- |
| Irishman Benjamin Madigan is a successful New York architect, recently divorced, who tries to get back into the dating scene with help from teenage son Luke. Seamus, Ben's widower father, also moves in with the Madigan men. |
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| My review:- |
| Sad to say that Madigan Men will not rank as one of the all-time great sit-coms. It is it's a very formulaic sit-com with formulaic sit-com writing. I will say that it had it's moments, a few nice lines, but that's all. Every time it seemed to be perking up (usually in the office scenes), it suddenly went flat (usually in the scenes between the "Madigan Men"). |
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| The laughter track is annoying (there is a studio audience but it sounded like it was out of a can to me), the "Oirishness" angle overplayed and the plots lame. It's certainly no "Frasier", no matter how hard it tries. In fact, it doesn't seem sure if it does actually WANT to be a sitcom. There are too many "serious" moments for that. Yet, unlike Sports Night, Madigan Men is billed as an out and out sitcom. |
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| Sabrina, as Ben Madigan's assistant, Wendy, does her best to salvage the show and by far and away the funniest moments occure when she is on screen. Unfortunately her part is small and she is only ever seen in the office. Despite that, she manages to steal all her scenes. Not just steal them, she packs them in a bag and runs off to Accapulco with them. |
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| She looks as good as ever, and her comic timing and delivery puts the rest of the cast to shame. Byrne doesn't do comedy so well and appears much more comfortable with the deep and meaningful stuff, John Henesley II does ok, Roy Dotrice is too busy trying to be Irish, and Grant Shaud sometimes overdoes it a touch. |
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| Sabrina left Madigan Men after about seven episodes. It was quite sudden and her reasons are not known - although my information is that she left by her own choice, and that it was not because of any problems with the cast or crew. |
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| The show staggered on without her for a few more episodes before being cancelled. I think cancellation was inevitable given the ratings and, whatever her reason for leaving, Sabrina may have done herself some small good by getting out before the end. |
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